Knitting-frame.



No. 735,988. PATENTED AUGrll, 1903.

T. LIEBERKNEOHT. KNITTING FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1900.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Z: g./2. g 5

G 9 67897E;\:::}/ 9 4 W niiiii iiim Witnesses. Inventor.

, Atty,

n4: NORRIS PETERS co. mom-mm WASHINGYON n c UNITED STAT S PatentedAugust 1 1, 1903.

TIIEODOR LIEBERKNECHT, OF HOHENSTEIN, GERMANY.

KNlTTlNG-FRAM E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0 735,988, dated August11, 1903. Application filed September 17,1900. Serial No. 30,259. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern-.-

Beltknownthatl,THEODORLIEBERKNECHT, a subject of the German Emperor, anda resident of Hohenstein, Germany, have invented certain new and usefulImprovement s in Knitting-Frames,of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the improvement. Fig. 2 shows thelateral displacement of the thread-guides due to expansion. Fig. 3 showsthe lateral displacement of the upper needles due to expansion. Fig. 4shows the application of the invention to a cotton-knitter. Fig. 5 showsthe thread-guides in their proper position. Fig. (5 shows thethread-guides displaced by expansion in case of end buifer. Fig. 7 showsthe thread-guides displaced by expansion in case of buffers being at themiddle of bar.

In very large frames adapted to work a plurality of pieces of goods wside by side several parts and particularly the guide-rails b or theupper rails d, Fig. 4, are very long. The frame of the machine,theseries of needles 6 being arranged in separate needle-beds, is formed ofa long and heavy body, while the rails Z) (Z made ofequal length arethin and comparatively light. When the temperature is raised-forinstance, by heating the workrooms in winterthe thin rails 17 d will beheated more quickly than the heavy frame and therefore they are expandedto a greater extent than the latter, whereby in the constructionheretofore used the parts do not exactly correspond to each other duringthe first period of the work. The extreme or border loops becomeirregular or fail to be formed. Thus the frame will be useless until allthe parts thereof are uniformly heated. The'upper needles present thesame objectionable feature, since the points of the said needles 9 ceaseto reach the middle line of the lower needle-groove and finally move toand beyond the edge of the lower needles, whereby the machine is alsorendered useless. This will be better understood by reference to Figs. 2and 3 and the vertical dotted lines therein. Supposing the knitter tohave a plurality of needle-beds and the guide-bars to operate againstbuffers acting against their extreme ends, it is understood that in itsIn Fig. 1 20 represents the piece of goods being knit. The work hasreached the width shown and only one idle needle is shown to the left ofthe working edge. Imagine, now, that the work has reached but half thewidth shown. It will be clear that a number of idle needles will be tothe left of the working edge and consequently to the left of thethreadguide. In Fig. 2 the edge needle is represented by e, and c is thefirst idle to the left of the working edge. As the work of broadening ornarrowing the goods progresses the actual position of the thread willvary as to the particular part of the needle-bed, but its relativeposition in the middle line between the two needles opposite it at thetime being should always be the same. Now, if the guide-bars areexpanded relatively more than the frame and the bar is supposed to beabutting against the left buffer, the first thread-guide from the left,which we call 0', will have been displaced to the right of its normalposition with respect to the frame by the amount of excess of expansiondue to the comparatively short piece of bar between C and the buffer, sothat the position of O, which is indicated by the dotted line marked 1,will be almost the correct one, midway between needles e and e, thesedesignating the edge needle and the next needle outside of it,respectively. In Fig. 6 position 1 would show the same displacement ofthe thread-guide to the right of the dotted line which indicates thenormal position of the thread-guide throughout Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Thenext guide to the right, 0 will be displaced by the excess of expansionof the bar length up to it consequently more than was 0, assuming thenthe position marked 2 in Figs. 2 and 6. This error will increase withthe distance of the threadguide from the end of bar until, in the caseof 0 the thread-guide has been moved to a position directly over theedge needle 6, as shown in Fig. 2. Precisely the same displacementoccurs with the upper needles 9, Fig. 3, whereat the twelfth from leftend of the guide-bar, the apex of the needle, has

passed completely outside of the lower-needle groove, and at let thewhole upper needle has passed the lower needle, rendering it clearlyinoperative.

My present invention consists in arranging the buffers f f in. themiddle of the machine to be engaged bylugs Z Z, placed at each side ofand close to the middle of the guide-bar, as shown in Fig. 1. Then whenthe rail (9 e11- gages the buffer f by means of its lug i the firstguide 0 011 the left-hand side of L'will still occupy a good position,while the next guides (3 0 011 the right and left hand side of tarebrought nearer the one to the edge needle 6, Fig. 2, and the other tothe first idle needle 6, and so on. This positioning of the needles iscontinued only for half the number of guides, whereby the error will bereduced by one-half, the guides remaining always between the needles 6e, Fig. 2, while the upper needles still work within the lowerneedlegrooves, Fig. Thus the width of the frame may be doubled.

Fig. 4 shows the improvement applied to a cotton-knitter wherein thebuffers f for the rails b are arranged at about the same height asheretofore, while the buffers for the rails (Z are arranged at 72 Thussaid buffers ff do not affect the needle-beds e, and as the same areomitted on both sides of the frame the latter maybe made wider and havemore needlebeds than heretofore.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a knitting-frame, the combination with the lower guide-rails, thethread-guide and the upper-needle rails, of buffers ff arranged in themiddle part of the machine and serving to regulate the stroke of thethreadguide, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a knitting-frame, the combination with the lower guide-rails, thethread-guide, and the upper-needle rails, of buffers f f arranged behindthe needle-beds of the machine, and serving to regulate the stroke ofthe thread-guide, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THEODOR LIEBERKNE(.1III.

\Vitncsses:

F. J. DIETZMAN, II. THIELE.

